280 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
centre, so Maui, Molokai, and Oahu, were made by two centres: pour- 
ing out their lavas in near proximity, they overflowed one another at 
base, and thus their twin character resulted. This series of islands, 
therefore, is not only a series of volcanic regions, but of volcanoes ;— 
volcanoes, too, of great magnitude. Hualalai and Hale-a-kala, still dis- 
tinct cones in form, are scarcely less lofty than the far-famed Sicilian 
mountain. Loa and Kea exceed Etna nearly one-third in altitude ; 
and if we compare their actual size, Loa contains material for two and 
a half Etnas. Kauai, and one, if not both, of the ranges of Oahu, were 
other lofty summits. The Hawaiian Group forms a noble range of 
heights, from Kauai, which bears deep marks of age upon its fea- 
tures, to Mount Loa, which has not yet passed from the period of 
growth. 
We shall in another place present reasons for believing that the 
commencement of the eruptions of Hawaii may date as far back as 
the early carboniferous or Silurian epoch. We naturally conclude 
from the facts which have been considered, that on the first rupture 
of the crust, which determined the position of the islands, lavas were 
poured out, as now at an eruption of Mount Loa. This was followed 
by continued ejections from certain points in the line, which went on 
building up volcanic mountains—whether submerged or not we may 
hereafter consider. From Kauai to Mount Loa all may thus have 
simultaneously commenced their ejections, and have continued in 
operation during the same epoch till one after another became ex- 
tinct. Now, the only burning summits out of the thirteen which 
were once in action from Nihau to Hawaii, are those of Loa and 
Hualalai: we might say farther that these are all out of a number 
unknown, which stretched along for fifteen hundred miles, the length 
of the whole range. ‘This appears to be a correct view of the origin 
of the Hawaiian Islands. 
No facts can be pointed to, which render it even probable that 
Hawaii is of more recent origin than Kauai, though more recent in 
its latest eruptions. ‘The rocks of Mount Loa, exposed upon some 
of its sides, indicate as great an age, as far as lithological evidence 
goes, as any beds in the group. We may conclude, from the facts 
exhibited to view, that the eruptions of Mount Loa have continued 
to a later period: an assertion of anything beyond, is unwarranted by 
the structure of the islands, and should be received only as an im- 
probable conjecture. ‘This will appear more clearly after reviewing 
